When improv and comedy legend Tony Slattery agreed to an interview to coincide with him performing at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, I was delighted as his show Slattery Will Get You No Where was the first show at the festival we booked tickets for. And when I got Tony Slattery’s answers yesterday my happiness and excitement only increased. What follows is the funniest and most bizarre interview we have ever had for this website and one that truly only could have taken place with Tony Slattery himself. Enjoy!

Me: For those who haven’t come across you before, tell more about yourself?

Tony: I’m Britain’s largest collector of bukkake figurines and I make my own marmalade.

Me: What are you looking forward to most about performing at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe?

Tony: Sandwiches and worldwide Armageddon.

Me: “Whose Line Is It Anyway” was the show that made me fall in love with live comedy and improv and you were a massive part of that for me, but what’s your favourite memory about being part of it?

Me: You appeared twice in the cult comedy, I wrote a third of my dissertation on, “Red Dwarf” including as a vending machine that threatened Arnold J Rimmer. If you could appear as a vending machine in any other sitcom to annoy any other character, who would you choose and why?

Tony: I would be a vending machine that dispensed Opal Fruits, as they were then properly called. I think I would be a natural replacement for Barry Chuckle.

Me: How did it feel becoming the Rector of the University of Dundee and did you let the power go to your head?

Tony: I can’t remember how it felt for a variety of reasons, and therefore I am not able to answer the second part of this question. Independence and home rule for Edgware.

Me: I was lucky enough to see Paul Heaton, who you appeared on Celebrity Stars in Your Eyes as, in concert last year. You sadly didn’t win but did you ever find out what Paul himself thought of your performance?